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From The Boston Globe, does the secret to social networking lie in the remote jungle? After years of observational studies and lab experiments, two researchers are hoping to find answers in Honduras. Virtue signaling and other inane platitudes: Mark Peters on thoughts and prayers for those who engage in the self-glorifying behavior rampant on social media. Ghosts in the machine: Jenna Wortham on how social media has changed the way we mourn, for the better. The Peach app is dead, but it taught us something about social media. From PUP, the first chapter from Political Turbulence: How Social Media Shape Collective Action by Helen Margetts, Peter John, Scott Hale, and Taha Yasseri; and the first chapter from A Social Strategy: How We Profit from Social Media by Mikolaj Jan Piskorski.

Twitter, to save itself, must scale back world-swallowing ambitions: “Twitter should think of itself and portray itself to investors as more of a public utility than as a business that never stops growing”. Fred Wilson on the Twitter contradiction. Twitter is not a failure — and the fact that it’s collapsing in Wall Street’s estimation only reveals the utter perversion of the digital economy. The end of Twitter: Twitter is losing executives and it’s being crushed by Facebook, Instagram, and even WeChat — it used to be essential, but now is it about to die? Navneet Alang on how you can’t kill Twitter, even if it dies.

Wikipedia just turned 15 years old — will it survive 15 more? Monica Anderson, Paul Hitlin and Michelle Atkinson on Wikipedia at 15: Millions of readers in scores of languages. Brian Feldman on a definitive list of lists of the best and worst of Wikipedia for its 15th birthday. Celebrate or hate it as you will, writes Scott McLemee, Wikipedia has metamorphosed from its beginnings as a gangly cultural interloper into the de facto reference work of first resort. Manu Saadia on why Wikipedia might be the most important invention ever.

Jessi Hempel goes inside Reddit’s plan to recover from its epic meltdown. Steve Huffman co-founded Reddit, sold Reddit, watched Reddit grow, watched Reddit flounder, watched Reddit mutiny — now he’s back, to try to save Reddit from itself. How Reddit took on its own users and won: Since 2006, the site insisted anything that wasn’t illegal should be tolerated — under Ellen Pao’s brief leadership, all that changed.

From Rolling Stone, revenge of the simple: Matt Taibbi on how George W. Bush gave rise to Trump. Michael Tesler and John Sides on how political science helps explain the rise of Trump: The role of white identity and grievances. Peter Levine on why political science dismissed Trump and political theory predicted him. Signs of panic over Trump at top conservative convention. Wall Street readies big Trump assault: Anti-Trump super PAC source says billionaire Paul Singer will make sure it has all the money it needs. Koch brothers will not use funds to try to block Trump nomination. Ronald Brownstein on the Republican Party’s best bet against Trump: GOP leaders had planned to unite behind an alternative to the front-runner, but after Super Tuesday, they now favor a strategy of fragmentation.